Thursday, May 08, 2014

Health ministry to increase water testing in Selangor

The Health Ministry will be increasing water testing at treatment plants in Selangor to ensure water supplied to consumers is not polluted by dangerous substances and is safe for consumption.

Health Minister Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam said under normal procedure, the testing frequency to check for chemicals and metals was once a month, but now it would be done once a week.

“If the Selangor government’s decision to draw raw water from ex-mining pools is continued, we will step up testing to ensure the water supplied meets the Health Ministry’s standards,” he said here today.

He was responding to a front page report in a local daily today, which among others, had alluded that water from the former mining pools was not safe for consumption.

Subramaniam said according to sampling done two weeks ago, treated water in Selangor was determined to be safe for consumption and did not contain any dangerous elements.

He also urged the Department of Environment (DOE) and Lembaga Urus Air Selangor (Luas) to do continuous checks on the contents of raw water and to issue warnings if there were adverse changes in the water quality.

“The cooperation of all agencies responsible is important to ensure raw water drawn and treated water are safe.

“If the ministry finds that raw water sourced in Selangor is unsafe, the state government will be asked to stop drawing the water from those sources.”